Daily Bible Study for Tuesday December
13, 2016
By: Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N
Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying
God’s Word Around the Globe”
Chapter Reading
for Today: Please read in
your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered
paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate
translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful
for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their
wording. I trust this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another
version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV.
***Please
note a change! We will look at everything for our basic study from the King
James Version going forward. It is helpful to stay with one solid version as we
study so as not to cause confusion. I may add other translations for specific
scriptures as the Lord directs.
One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my
own writing. I am adding red to the letters when
it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.
Bible Gateway Verse of the Day
Matthew 2:4-6
And when he had gathered all the chief priests
and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be
born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by
the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among
the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my
people Israel.
Psalm 119:89-176
Take It to The Lord in Prayer
This entire Psalm is a prayer. From the first verse to the
last, we see a person, inspired by Holy Spirit, crying out to God. We can see a
person who has gone astray, who has had hard times and who is constantly facing
attacks from the enemy – can anyone relate? Yet in all these verses, the writer
is placing their unwavering trust in God’s word. Does that describe you today? Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for Your word that heals, comforts, saves and
delivers us. Jesus, the word made flesh, was a living example of hoping in Your
word. That was all He did during His life. He placed His full confidence in
what He heard His Father in heaven say. Father, I am asking You to help us to
see how we can trust in Your word more. Give me the anointing and utterance to
bring Your message of hope through Your word to Your children. Cause this
message to go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh.
Quicken our hearts to receive the promises contained in Your unfailing word.
Help us to see what we could not see previously. Show us how to apply what we
learn today to our everyday lives. Thank You for always watching over Your word
to perform it in our lives when we obey You. Father, we desire to be doers of
Your entire word and not just forgetful hearers. Bring us closer to You as we
meditate continually in Your word. Thank You in advance for the answers that
will surely come in response to this prayer. We believe we receive them and
commit this study to You knowing our thoughts will be established in Jesus
name. Amen.
Like you, I saw several verses that had a deeper meaning for
me as I could relate them to my life’s experiences. Yet, I heard Holy Spirit say
this to me, “The entire Psalm is a prayer.” Indeed, when we read each and every
verse it is as if we are eve’s dropping on a personal conversation with God.
The person who penned these verses was inspired by Holy Spirit and surely, they
too could personally relate to the trials mentioned in these scriptures. And
can’t we all?
One of the words you may have noticed repeatedly in this
chapter is the word “quicken.” I want to show you the definition as described
in Webster’s 1828 Bible…
1. Primarily, to make alive; to vivify; to
revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state. Romans 4:17.
2. To make alive in a spiritual sense;
to communicate a principle of grace to.
You hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:1.
3. To
hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken motion, speed or flight.
4. To
sharpen; to give keener
perception to; to stimulate; to incite; as, to quicken the appetite or taste; to quicken desires.
5. To
revive; to cheer; to reinvigorate; to refresh by new supplies of comfort or grace. Psalms 119:25.
How often have you thought of this word in this sense? God’s
word gives life to that which is dead. I remember when I heard the following
verse recently as our pastor was delivering a message. It seemed to really come
alive to me…
Psalm 119:130
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the
simple.
I thought about how much change the word of God has been
making in my life lately. And why? Because I have been paying much closer
attention to it than I had in times past. I have learned to take His word much
more seriously. I found out that when I really place my faith in His word, when
I say it out loud in faith and stand on it constantly, it will bring about the
desired change in one’s life. When I really allowed His word to get down deep
into my heart and soul, things really began to change for me on a much larger
scale. I realized that the light of God’s word (see verse 105) was really changing
me in the areas where I was still walking in darkness. The light of His word
took my path in a completely different direction.
I saw a shift in my issues I had been needlessly battling
with begin to melt away. Something I had struggled with for so long just seemed
to be a simple thing. It was no longer an overwhelming challenge. There was a
woman in the Bible who had heard about Jesus. She heard about the Word made
flesh, and He was coming to her town that day. She had been bleeding for twelve
long years and had exhausted every resource she had to try to get the matter
resolved, all to no avail. But when she heard the Word, she went after Him.
What she did was go to the Light – Jesus. She had faith to believe if she could
only touch Him, she would be made well. Hallelujah! And she received what she
went for – praise His name forever!
Jesus is the word, and He is the Light. When we touch Him, we
cannot help but be changed. It is now my daily practice to make positive
confessions over my life that are directly tied to the word of God. Once I
began to understand this principle, things happened and left me wanting more.
Look at this…
Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
When we trust in the blood of Jesus and speak His words out
of our mouths, in faith, we will get results. His word cannot fail to perform
what it was sent for! It all hinges on our faith and our words. Jesus is the
High Priest of our confession; therefore, we have to give Him something to work
with. When we spend our time talking about our problems, our diseases, and our
pile of unpaid bills, we are exalting the devil and allowing him to continue to
steal, kill and destroy from our lives. But when we put our hope in the word of
God – just like we see in Psalm 119, the things we speak will come to pass for
us and bring the victory that we desire.
Let me give just one example of the power of our words. This
year I said that 2016 was going to be the great year of wisdom, self-control
and progress in my life. This is not even a Bible verse. Yet, I declared it –
not every single day, but here and there as I went along. And as I did, you guessed
it – it happened! As of today I can say honestly before the Lord as my witness
that this has been the kind of year I have had. Hallelujah! In addition to this,
I started speaking verses from the Bible over my life in the areas I was
struggling with the most, and I got results – glory to God! Truly His word
never, never fails. As I look back over this year, I have to give Him all the
glory for His Holy Spirit and the power of His word actively working in my
life. It is as if I have discovered the primary key to living a victorious
Christian life, so now I am decreeing even more things from His word knowing
this…
Job 22:28
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
I could not help but share this testimony to encourage you.
It has worked for me and it will work for you. Now let’s get back to the prayer
issue at hand. Personally, I am learning more about effective prayer right now
in my life than I have ever known. I have been reading and studying on this
topic for a while now. When I realized that the Lord has to have us ask for things
in order to do them in the earth, I realized that I need to be praying more. I
am not where I want to be in the amount of time I spend praying but I am
working to get there.
Our Psalmist today shows us a perfect example of prayer. He
is saying before God what he is placing his trust in - His words, testimonies, commands and laws. He
is saying that no matter what is coming against him, and many were, he is going
to place his trust in God’s word. We are called to be people of continual
prayer. Does this mean we are to be on our knees all day when there is work to
be done and the business of daily life to attend to? Of course not. The Lord
knows we have work to do and if we don’t work, we will not eat – amen. Let’s
consider a man who really shows us a lot about prayer in the Bible – Paul. This
is what he said repeatedly in the scriptures…
Romans 1:9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
We can find these same words in Ephesians 1:16, 2 Timothy 1:3
and Philemon 1:4. Paul was a “thankful prayer man.” He was making a positive
confession that God was already at work answering the petitions he had asked of
Him. Once we have asked something, it is not necessary to ask again. After the initial
request, we must continue to thank the Lord in faith, believing that we have already
received our answers.
Oh there is much that the church needs to learn about the
gift and power that God has given us in prayer – myself included. Once we begin
to study the examples the Lord has given us in His word, we can really begin to
see results from our prayers. This is where I always like to recommend Kenneth
E. Hagin’s “Bible Study Prayer Course.” It has helped me tremendously and I am
still studying it.
Living in kingdom victory is not complicated. If we will learn
the basic principles about the kingdom where faith, prayer, finances and our calling
is concerned, along with the authority that we have already been given by
Jesus, we can do the “greater works than these” that Jesus said we will
do. We see in the Bible that Paul prayed
continually. The man was focused – amen. Truly he had his mind set on heavenly
things – not on earthly things. This is a misconception among many; again, myself
included. I admit that I did not understand how we can “pray continually.” I am
reading from my Morris Cerullo study Bible where he says the Greek word for “without
ceasing” implies “repeated and frequent.”
Can we even imagine the prayer list
that Paul had for the people he was remembering in his prayers? Glory to God!
What an example he sets for us. That’s why the Lord used him to pen so much of
the New Testament. Another note I am seeing in my study Bible is profound
indeed. In it, brother Morris indicates that every thought or memory of others
can be turned into short, strategic prayers for them. We can pray as we go
about our lives in times like these: at the grocery store, while cleaning the house
or doing laundry, exercising, or while traveling to name a few.
Just today I was repenting before the Lord for the many ways
I could have been doing things differently, but I have been so self-absorbed. I
have been in too much of a hurry to get the next task done, when I need to slow
down and be led into each and every thing by Holy Spirit. In addition, I need
to be praying a lot more than I do. It would be great to tell you that I have
been praying as I ought, however if I did, it would be a lie. How many know
that we learn as we go. Even when we are teaching these things to others, the
Lord is teaching us. Nobody has reached the mark of Christ like perfection, but
we should all be well on our way.
Something the Lord showed me today is that too many times we
are in a hurry to get to the next place we think we are going in our lives, and
we are missing what He is trying to teach us right now in this season. How many
times have we said, “Oh, the Lord was showing me that ten years ago – duh!”
While we slap our heads in amazement, it’s not time for a “V-8” - LOL! A little
humor is good. I just pictured the old commercial where the man slaps his head
and says, “I should have had a V8.” While the commercial was quite humorous,
the fact that Christians are in such a hurry and missing the deep, rich things
the Lord is trying to show us is anything but.
Like our Psalm clearly shows us today, we need to take
everything to the Lord in prayer. Much prayer equals no anxiety. I have had a
lot of correction and been doing a lot of repenting since we recently read
Psalm 118. It seems it was my season to get some more revelation on where I
have been missing the mark. But the beauty of all this is that the Lord knows
where we are and what we understand. He wants us to come up higher and deeper
in our walk with Him, indeed. But He also knows we can only handle so much at a
time. Oh, if I had seen the things I am seeing right now ten years ago, on top
of what He was dealing with me about back then, I couldn’t have absorbed it
all. And the Lord is not like a hard task master.
He is so loving, patient and kind. He reminded me today that
He is patient with me, so I must be patient with me. If I am being led to focus
on correcting a couple of areas in my life, then I need to settle down and be
in the moment. I need to do all I can by standing in His word in faith and
studying the matter and continue to listen to Him so I can get the wisdom and
understand that He wants me to get for right now.
Because He is good, the more we get with Him, the more the
darkness rises to the surface in our lives. He is a consuming fire. Sin cannot
survive in His presence. It will be burned up immediately! That’s why He had to
hide Moses in the cleft of the rock as He passed by him. He can shine the light
of His word on those things that need to be cleaned up and help us to do this…
Romans 2:4
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and
longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
When I was worshipping the Lord today and spending time with
Him, all of a sudden, all this stuff just started coming out of me that I
needed to repent for. One of the songs was from this Bible verse…
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
I could see my selfishness. I could see the way I have been
slacking in my prayer time. I know in my spirit that Holy Spirit was bringing
this out and frankly, I was glad that He did. I know this sounds rather gross,
but it is a lot like vomiting, only in a spiritual sense. Getting it out always
makes one feel better. I had not been feeling well the past several days. The
Lord showed me that it has been a lot of stuff that I had been burying down
deep in my heart and had not been willing to deal with – can anyone relate to
this? Friend, this stuff has got to come out. If we need to cry, then cry. Get it
out and get on with the joy of the Lord as your strength – amen.
It wasn’t until I really started placing my faith in the word
of God to tear down the mountains in my life that I started to obtain victory
such as I have never seen before. It is like trying a new thing and once you
do, you can’t get enough of it going forward. We discover something that works
and then we keep going back for more. This is the power of God’s word. He made
us in His image. When He spoke, He created, when He said, things happened. He
created and He blessed – all with His spoken word. It is the same for us.
We
can speak something and cause things to happen. We can speak blessings and
cause people to be blessed. We can create things in our lives that do not look
at all possible by our spoken word. Conversely, if we say the negative things,
then the negative things are what will come to pass. Just look around you. It
is happening all the time. Even something as simple as someone saying, “Oh
buddy, it is going to be a bad day.” Guess what? They will surely have a bad day.
This is so serious.
Jesus was a man of earnest prayer. Isaiah was a man of
prayer. Paul, and so many others that the Lord has hand selected as examples in
His word so we can see it and absorb it and apply it in our own lives. It is
not “prayer” that we are to believe in, it is God. Jesus said we must have
faith in God. Prayer is spending time with Him. It is not just asking Him for
things or to do things. It is a give and take relationship. He speaks, we
listen. We speak, He listens. There is a Psalm I have really appreciated about
the asking part for several years now…
Psalm 5:3
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto
thee, and will look up.
Once we make a request to the
Lord, we continue to “look up” for the answer to come. And if we believe we
receive when we ask and do not waver in unbelief during the waiting time, but
continue to give Him thanks even when we can’t see the answer yet, we will have
what we have petitioned of Him – hallelujah!
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
God’s word is the basis for our prayer
lives
Faith in God gets answers to prayer
We must be more proactive in “praying
continually”
Questions:
What verses meant the most to you in this Psalm and why?
What did you learn about taking your requests to the Lord in prayer
today that you had not previously known?
What will you do differently going forward?
Do you have an active prayer list? If not, will you start to
create one?
Who can you share this study with?
How
has your prayer life been lately?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for showing us more about how to pray
and when to pray. Father, I ask You to show me who I can pray for. Help me to establish
the kind of prayer life that will really bring the kind of results that You
want to see. Show me where I have missed it and lead me in the way I should go according
to Your word. Thank You in advance for the changes You will so graciously help
me to make. I give You all the glory and thank You for Your patience with me.
In Jesus name. Amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
1 John
2:5
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:
hereby know we that we are in him.
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